Pathways to Olympic Values Education: Historical Perspectives

Abstract

“Pathways to Olympic Values Education” documents four decades of academic research, curriculum development and practical application in the field of Olympic education. The sequence begins in 1984 with the development of materials for the Calgary 1988 Olympic Winter Games and ends in the current version (2016) of the IOC’s Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP). History often deals with events—dates and personalities. This paper tracks the evolution of ideas—of a theoretical orientation to Olympic education from the perspective of a curriculum specialist, and based on results and insights arising from a sequence of Olympic-related educational initiatives. Olympic education, as a global phenomenon—i.e., one of those “visions around the world” as quoted in the title for the International Society for the History of Physical Education and Sport (ISHPES) Congress on the History of Sport in Münster, July 18–21—and contextualized within the fields of sport and physical education, must be seen against multiple social, political and economic backgrounds. This paper limits its exploration to the evolution of Olympic values education as an extension of the late 19th century Euro-American “Olympic Games” project, but concludes with insights into the ways that Olympic values education can be and is adapted and re-contextualized for other cultural situations.